Privately Owned Service Dog Certification Program
At paws4people®, we recognize the critical need for legitimate, accredited Service Dog certification for privately-owned dogs. Our goal is to make this accessible while maintaining the highest standards and meeting all, Assistance Dog International (ADI) requirements. By doing so, we aim to address the growing issue of poorly-trained, fraudulent “Service Dogs” in public. We are committed to being part of the solution.
Please understand that our service dog certification process is not a quick fix for access issues. It’s not simply about “paying for a vest;” instead, it’s a comprehensive, long-term path for teams committed to achieving internationally recognized credentials that meet or exceed ADI standards.
paws4people is not providing full-service training for privately-owned dogs to become Service Dogs. Rather, we will consider integrating mature, well-trained dogs into our client training cohorts. Here, we will refine public access skills. If necessary, the team will complete a paws4people training module to master their minimum of three disability mitigation tasks. Alternatively, they may be assessed on tasks they’ve trained for independently and test out of this module. In order to be a candidate, a dog must meet the many prerequisites listed below on this page.
We will only consider certification for privately-owned dogs within the types of training we provide: Mobility Assistance, Psychiatric Service, Sensory Development-Tactile Pressure, and Medical Alert (in limited cases).
Participating in our privately-owned program will require a minimum of a six month-long relationship in our Team training program. Regardless of a dog’s age or level of training, there is absolutely no short-cut to this minimum.
Team Training takes place in Wilmington, North Carolina. Multiple trips to Wilmington will be required. There is no exception to this process.
In order to qualify for a paws4people certification, the human side of the Team must also qualify. The potential client will need to complete all steps of our application process to include determination of medical necessity and appropriateness for our program.
As with our internal Service Dog placement program, participation in the team training cohorts is a tuition-based program. Details about total costs are covered in the initial Discovery Call.
At the time of application, dogs must be between 18 months and 4 years of age.
Dogs must be able to demonstrate reliable performance of a minimum of three disability mitigating tasks to paws4people’s standards. However, if this is not already trained, an additional module is available and paws4people will provide this training to the team, at an additional expense.
Dogs must be trained to the level of and have passed an official AKC CGC Urban test by a credentialed evaluator. Proof of evaluation will be required and will be verified directly with the evaluator.
Dogs must be deemed in good health and fit for its particular service by a veterinarian, as well as be up to date on all vaccinations and preventatives. paws4people reserves the right to require a second opinion of fit for duty by one of its own veterinarians.
